This month’s meeting will be on Friday, October 5, at 8:00 PM in room 215 of the Aerospace Engineering building.  Those of you who live in the Montgomery area, are welcome to share a ride and should meet at my house at 518 Seminole Dr., ready to leave for Auburn at 7:00 PM.

The October star party, for those not attending the Deep South Regional Star Gaze, will be the weekend of October 19-20, at the Cliff Hill farm.

Teresa Johnson, teacher at Eastwood Christian School, in Montgomery, contacted Robert Rock and asked us to host a star party at their school on Monday, October 22 on the school grounds at 1701 E. Trinity Blvd. next to Eastwood Presbyterian Church.

Directions:  From I-85, take either exit 4 (Perry Hill Rd.) or exit 6 (Eastern Bypass) whichever is more convenient, go south 1 block to Carmichael Rd.  Turn west from Eastern Bypass, or east from Perry Hill Rd. There is a traffic light where Trinity intersects Carmichael Rd.  Go south on Trinity for about two blocks (you’ll see the steeple as soon as you turn onto Trinity Blvd.).  The church is on the left (across the street from Trinity school).

Teresa plans to feed us a picnic supper at about 6:00 PM with Moon gazing beginning around 6:30.

AAS has purchased an 8-inch f/6 Orion SkyQuest XT8 Dobsonian Reflector for use by AAS members.  AAS president, Rhon Jenkins, rjenkins@eng.auburn.edu   has agreed to act as the scope custodian.  Tentative plans are for a one month loan before returning it for someone else to use.  Public AAS events may take precedence over personal use.  The scope comes with two Plossl eyepieces:  25mm (48X) and 9mm (133X).  Attend the October meeting for more details. 
 

PSSG 2001 http://www.atlantaastronomy.org/PSSG2001/DOCS/PSSG-2001-Panoramic.htm   is now history.  Representing the AAS were Alan and Max Cook, Ricky Wood, Scott Thompson, Robert Rock, Tom McGowan, and Russell Whigham.  Tom took his place in the vendors building exhibiting his MidnighTelescopes.  The weather was good if not great with at least two full nights of observing.  Keynote speaker, Wil Tirion was unable to attend due to the travel restrictions imposed by the events of September 11.  Still, there were several excellent speakers to make the Saturday afternoon lectures both interesting and informative.  PSSG, event coordinator, Ken Poshedly, announced that PSSG 2002 will be on October 3-6 at a new location near the junction of Georgia, Tennessee, and North Carolina.  Reports are that the new facility will be more spacious, darker, and with better sleeping and dining accommodations.

For Everything you always wanted to know about this year’s DSRSG:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Deep-South-Regional-Star-Gaze/files/DSRSG%2001.doc  
I’ll be there Wednesday afternoon.  Hope to see some familiar faces.

Dr. David T. King, Jr. sent this link to a page on Kuiper Belt Objects titled   “What Lurks in the Outer Solar System?”  http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2001/ast13sep_1.htm?list81710

Richard Allen wrote to let us know that he’s still around:  

Wed, 26 Sep 2001

Hi Russell,

Just wanted to let ya'll know I am still around. Fridays and Saturdays have been a mess lately. Laura has had some things to take care of and I have had to keep children some weekend nights to free up time for her. Also this time of year high school football becomes a big family activity. College football also involves my traveling to many different places. I was in South Bend, Indiana last weekend and will be in College Station, TX this weekend. Hopefully things will slow down soon and I can get back to some meetings and do a little more star gazing. Last night the moon was a good choice. I was happy to get in a few minuets viewing as I have not done much lately. I am looking forward to the time change as I find I have time earlier in the evening to get out.I have bought some solar film also. I could not believe what I was seeing. I have always heard about sun spots, but actually seeing them form my own scope was amazing. Looking forward to seeing the group soon. Rick

Hope to see everyone at the meeting,

Russell